(Senior) Programme Manager - Land

Helsing is hiring a (Senior) Programme Manager - Land in Munich, Germany. Level rates it ; you can apply on Helsing.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Helsing has 159 other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Who we are

Helsing is a defence AI company. Our mission is to protect our democracies. We aim to achieve technological leadership, so that open societies can continue to make sovereign decisions and control their ethical standards. As democracies, we believe we have a special responsibility to be thoughtful about the development and deployment of powerful technologies like AI. We take this responsibility seriously.
We are an ambitious and committed team of engineers, AI specialists and customer-facing programme managers. We are looking for mission-driven people to join our European teams and apply their skills to solve the most complex and impactful problems. We embrace an open and transparent culture that welcomes healthy debates on the use of technology in defence, its benefits, and its ethical implications.

The role

As Senior Programme Manager for Helsing's Land domain, you will lead a complex, high-stakes defence programme. You are the primary interface for military customers, procurement agencies, and defence industry partners (Primes). Because you must navigate the realities of European land defence from day one, an established track record within the defence sector is required.
Drawing on your knowledge of military procurement lifecycles and Helsing's capabilities, you will own senior stakeholder relationships and drive technical and commercial delivery. You will align cross-functional teams across multi-year timelines, report performance to leadership, and mitigate risks before they affect mission delivery.

The day-to-day

Own Defence Relationships: Serve as the primary point of contact for senior military customers, procurement bodies (e.g. BAAINBw), and industry partners, ensuring contractual commitments are met at every milestone
Drive Governance: Maintain programme roadmaps and steering dashboards, tracking KPIs across engineering milestones, military certification gates, and strict defence contract obligations
Lead Commercials: Manage commercial engagement within defence procurement frameworks, driving follow-on opportunities, leading proposals, and protecting the programme’s value proposition
Orchestrate Delivery: Align Helsing's engineering, commercial, and operational teams autonomously across multi-quarter and multi-year lifecycles
Mitigate Risks: Monitor technical, regulatory, and integration risks, delivering clear course-correction plans to leadership before timelines are impacted

You should apply if you

Proven Defence Track Record: Multiple years of experience managing end-to-end programme delivery specifically within the defence sector (via a Prime, defence tech, armed forces, or procurement agency)
Ecosystem Mastery: Proven ability to own senior relationships across MoDs, armed forces, and industrial consortia, navigating multi-party defence environments with commercial and political clarity

Execution Rigour: Strong track record of building steering mechanisms, risk frameworks, and executive reporting in regulated environments
Clearance & Languages: Full fluency in English and German (C1 minimum) to negotiate with local (military) stakeholders; Willingness to travel regularly, and ability to immediately obtain (or currently hold) national security clearance

Note: We operate in an industry where women, as well as other minority groups, are systematically under-represented. We encourage you to apply even if you don't meet all the listed qualifications; ability and impact cannot be summarised in a few bullet points.

Nice to have

Hold a PMP/PRINCE2 certification (or equivalent)

What we offer

Competitive salary and VSOP options

Relocation support: up to €2,500 and 4 weeks temporary accommodation

Learning: €500/£450 yearly allowance

Health & wellness: gym membership and mental health support (Nilo.health)

Social: regular company events and monthly social allowances

Enhanced parental leave: 22 weeks fully paid for primary caregivers & 6 weeks for secondary caregivers

Family support: 5 days of paid family emergency leave, 100% remote work option during pregnancy and phased return to work

These are the core benefits across all locations; there may be additional benefits in specific sites. Helsing is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or gender identity. Please do not submit personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, data concerning your health, or data concerning your sexual orientation. Helsing's Candidate Privacy and Confidentiality Regime can be found here.

How we rate this

(Senior) Programme Manager - Land at Helsing rates 29 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.